Poles total 15pc of Ocado staff

The company, founded 14 years ago and still yet to make a profit, has about
1,000 Poles in its workforce of 6,683.

Polish workers account for nearly 15pc of the staff at the online delivery business Ocado, it has emerged, as the internet grocer prepares to create 800 new jobs next year.

The company, founded 14 years ago and still yet to make a profit, has about 1,000 Poles in its workforce of 6,683.

Poles represent Ocado’s largest nationality after British workers. The company has so many that the health and safety notices in its large customer fulfilment centre in Hatfield, Herts, are displayed in Polish and English.

Polish is also one of the eight languages that grocery pickers on the company’s 25 miles of conveyor belts at Hatfield can elect to have on their computer screens, telling them exactly which items to place in distribution carts and shoppers’ bags.

Tim Steiner, Ocado’s chief executive, revealed the figures and the new jobs in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph. Many of the 800 new jobs will be at the warehouse in Dordon, Warwickshire, that Ocado will use to launch the internet groceries business of the supermarket chain, Morrisons, on January 10.